Read
Introduce the selection by asking students the following questions:
How do researchers collect information about hummingbirds?
What information has been documented from hummingbird research?
How do researchers use the data collected? Invite students
to add questions about hummingbird research. Use the Carousel Brainstorming
activity to elicit students? questions. In carousel brainstorming,
small groups of students are placed in circular seating arrangements.
Each student has a sheet of paper. Each student lists questions
about the topic on the paper. After 2-3 minutes, they pass their
list of questions to a student sitting next to them. They read the
questions and write additional ideas on the page. Continue this
brainstorming, passing, brainstorming, passing process. Brainstorming
ends when students receive their original list. (Asking Questions,
Setting a Purpose for Reading)

Introduce
vocabulary words for the reading selection. Use a variation of the
Clue Collector activity to preview words and elicit students? predictions.
In their small groups, students receive a set of vocabulary words.
Each group receives a different set of words:

Students generate predictions about facts that may be revealed in
the reading selection based on the topic and set of clue words they
receive. Invite each group to share their predictions with the class.
Encourage them to share reasons for their predictions. Discuss how
the set of vocabulary words affected the predictions students generated.
Ask questions to facilitate the discussion: How did the set
of words your group received affect the predictions you made? Which
words from your list sparked predictions and why? Which words did
your group look up in the dictionary? (Making Predictions
to Set a Purpose for Reading, Building Vocabulary)

Read "Researching
Hummers?One at a Time."Encourage
students to "mark up the text" by circling unfamiliar
words, underlining key words and phrases, and writing notes in the
margins.

Related Reading Selection: "Like
Banding a Toothpick! Talking with Sarah Driver, Hummingbird Bander."
Invite students to read about a licensed hummingbird bander in Ozark,
Missouri. In this article, Sarah Driver shares, "I often
see 100 birds at a time, I have 30 feeders out and use three gallons
of sugar water a day at peak season." Vivid pictures are
painted for readers by the many descriptive details in this reading
selection.

Revisit
Have students draw lines on a notebook page to create a Three-Column
Recall Chart. Ask them to label each column: First Reading
Details, Second Reading Details, and Third Reading Details. Have
students fill the first column with facts they recall from reading
the selection. Give them a limited amount of time to jot their ideas
down in the first column of the chart. Have students share some
of the key ideas they remembered after the first reading. Invite
students to reread the article, paying attention to details they
can add to the chart in column two. Repeat this process for a third
reading and recall-writing. Each column should contain different
ideas and be written in the students? own words. Ask students to
share how rereading the informational text helped them collect many
ideas. (Recalling Main Ideas and Details, Rereading for Text Details)

Have students revisit the text in small groups to write a group
response for the following questions: (Sequencing Events Described
in the Text, Summarizing Main Ideas and Details, Making Inferences
and Drawing Conclusions)

1.
What is the step-by-step process of hummingbird banding described
in the reading selection?
2. Why does researcher, Bill Hilton Jr., put green dye on the
hummingbird?
3. What have researchers learned based on hummingbird banding?
4. How do you think researchers use the data collected from capturing
and banding hummingbirds?

Challenge
students to incorporate the vocabulary words from the pre-reading
activity in their answers to the questions.

ReflectJournaling Questions (Making Inferences and Drawing
Conclusions)
1. What are the risks and benefits of capturing and banding hummingbirds?

2. What kinds of data will help researchers learn about the migration
habits of hummingbirds? What are some "unsolved mysteries"
about the migration habits of hummers?

3. Reread the details about Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird
Project. How do you think the work done at this facility helps hummingbirds?

2. Read about other research methods for capturing, banding, and
tracking a variety of birds and other animal species. Compare and
contrast the different methods used to collect data for research.
Create a Venn diagram to graphically organize the similarities and
differences. (Making Text-to-Text Connections)

Evaluate
(Making Inferences and Drawing Conclusions)
Help students become strategic readers who read between and beyond
the lines of the text. Ask the following questions to generate a
discussion about how strategic readers approach nonfiction texts:

1. What details from the text reveal Bill Hilton?s expertise?

2. Why do you think the author included details about the researcher?s
knowledge and experience in the field of hummingbird research? (Readers
of nonfiction make inferences and draw conclusions about the validity
of information described in a text. The author may have included
the details about Bill Hilton?s experience to show readers the validity
of the information presented.)

3. Which word or words best describe the author?s purpose for writing
this article: persuade, entertain, inform, express, inspire,
describe, explain, clarify. Help students identify the author?s
purpose(s) by asking the following questions: As a reader, did
you gain information? Were you persuaded to think about hummingbird
research in a certain way? Were you inspired to take action on behalf
of hummingbirds? Did you visualize events described in the text?
Did you read about the thoughts and feelings of the author

Writer's
Workshop

DescriptiveSee
Journey North?s Unpave the
Way for Hummingbirds to learn about creating a Hummingbird
Habitat in your backyard or on school grounds. Another resource
for further research is Operation RubyThroat?s Attracting
Hummingbirds. Observe hummingbirds and write descriptive words
and phrases in a field log or notebook.

ExpositoryUse
facts from the reading selection to create a book for young readers.
Explain Bill Hilton?s process of capturing and banding hummingbirds.
Include details about what data is collected from this type of
research.

PersuasiveMany
nonprofit organizations work on behalf of wildlife. These organizations
often rely on donations from caring citizens in order to fund
their important work. Write a persuasive letter that inspires
schools to donate to organizations working to protect and preserve
wildlife.

ExpressiveWrite
a thank you letter to researchers for their work on behalf of
wildlife.